Hong Kong Police Arrest Apple Daily Executives - The New York Times

Police arrested the top editors of Apple Daily, froze its assets and raided its newsroom, in a sharp escalation of the government’s campaign against dissent.

HONG KONG — The Hong Kong police on Thursday launched a sweeping clampdown on Apple Daily, an embattled pro-democracy newspaper, arresting five senior executives, freezing company accounts and warning its readers not to repost some of the publication’s articles online.

The police said that they had arrested five executives at Apple Daily and its parent company, Next Digital, on suspicion of “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security.”.

Police said they were prompted to act after an investigation showed more than 30 Apple Daily articles called on foreign countries to enact sanctions against Hong Kong and China.

“We have very strong evidence that the questionable articles play a crucial part in the entire conspiracy scheme, providing talking points to foreign countries or overseas institutions to impose sanctions,” Li Kwai-wah, a senior superintendent in the police national security department, said at a news conference.

He is facing separate charges under the national security law, with prosecutors accusing him of calling for international sanctions against Hong Kong.

“It seems clear that the Hong Kong government is determined to bring down Apple Daily, as one of the most outspoken media outlets in Hong Kong,” he said, calling the targeting of the newspaper for its journalism “a deeply troubling development.”.

Hong Kong’s chief of police, Chris Tang, singled out Apple Daily in April for its coverage of a national security event hosted by the police and warned that the authorities would investigate news outlets seen as having endangered national security